The vagrant darter (''Sympetrum vulgatum'') is a European

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

. The species takes its

English name English names are names used in, or originating in, England. In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) family ...

from its habit of occasionally appearing as a rare

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

north of its normal range. However, it is likely to be under-recorded because it is very similar to the

common darter The common darter (''Sympetrum striolatum'') is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae native to Eurasia. It is one of the most common dragonflies in Europe, occurring in a wide variety of water bodies, though with a preference for breeding in ...

(''S. striolatum''). The species is common in central and northeast Europe. It breeds in standing water.

References

*
Fauna Europaea
Libellulidae Dragonflies of Europe Insects described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Dragonfly-stub